i used to love working at my shelter when i was younger (13 - 17). i basically just played with the animals, took the dogs for walks, cleaned their cages and helped them find homes. I hardly ever had to assist in putting them down. however as i got older and they gave me more to do i began not liking it at all. they were putting down so many cats and dogs, mostly dogs though. usually pit bulls, rotties, and big "scary" looking dogs, which were of course all my favorites. I didn't like the little ones too much becasue they were always adopted within two weeks. it was the big ones that broke my heart because they were the ones with teh best personalities and the most loving. Well when i went away to college i still tried to go to teh shelter on the weekends when i came home to visit and i started seeing more and more things that i didn't like. Animals being put to sleep for little problems that could be fixed, kittens being put to sleep because they had the sniffles and probably weren't gonna make it anyway, mothers being put to sleep because we just didn't have room for more dogs once she had her litter. it was sad, but i was only there for a few hours every month and i tried not to let it get to me. Once college was over, i got a full time job as a vet tech and didn't really have too much time to go to the shelter since my hours were crazy at work, but i did stop in from time to time. Then this past winter, i started going back more often. I was working with the cats mostly at night. This huge handsom black boy came in with his sister. The male was like 35lbs, but he was so handsome. i wanted to take him home. One day he was there, and the next day he wasn't. I asked if he got adopted, they said no. He was put to sleep because they THOUGHT! he contracted ringworm on his nose. RINGWORM! of all the frickin things that could happen, ringworm is the least thing to worry about. it can be easily cured and they weren't even sure he had it. they were just looking for a reason to put him down because he was big and taking up space. I was so mad. there was no reason to put him to sleep becasue at the time we had plenty of room for him plus many more. I walked out of that shelter and never went back. I couldn't deal with it anymore. They put animals to sleep all the time for no reason at all, sometimes they just do it 'just in case'. its ridiculous. i miss helping the animals find homes, but i can't do it at a place like that. My dream is to open my own rescue and adoption agency, but i don't know how likely that is to happen since i have absolutely no money. gah....
__________________ Kellie  and  Morgan |